The Children Act by Ian McEwan: Emma Thompson, Stanley Tucci & Fionn Whitehead to Film in London #book2movies

I’ve been waiting for more news on the filming of Ian McEwan’s On Chesil Beach. Failing that I read with interest that Stanley Tucci has been cast to play Emma Thompson’s husband in the adaptation of McEwan’s The Children Act. 

To my mind, Tucci, who works all the time, should be getting stronger, richer, more demanding parts.  More Spotlight quality roles rather than the fluffery of playing Caesar Flickerman in The Hunger Games ... not that he doesn’t do that exceedingly well! He was such a wonderful husband to Meryl Streep in Julia in Julie & Julia, I’m ready to see how he measures up as Emma Thompson’s partner in a troubled marriage. It sounds like it will present a larger chunk of challenge.

Here’s the rundown on McEwan’s novel which was on a ton of Best Books of the Year when it came out in 2015.

Fiona Maye is a leading High Court judge who presides over cases in the family division. She is renowned for her fierce intelligence, exactitude, and sensitivity. But her professional success belies private sorrow and domestic strife. There is the lingering regret of her childlessness, and now her marriage of thirty years is in crisis. 

       At the same time, she is called on to try an urgent case: Adam, a beautiful seventeen-year-old boy, is refusing for religious reasons the medical treatment that could save his life, and his devout parents echo his wishes. Time is running out. Should the secular court overrule sincerely expressed faith? In the course of reaching a decision, Fiona visits Adam in the hospital—an encounter that stirs long-buried feelings in her and powerful new emotions in the boy. Her judgment has momentous consequences for them both.

Newcomer Fionn Whitehead, recently cast by Chistopher Nolan to star in Dunkirk—along with Harry Styles—has the part of Adam, the 17 year old boy.

The Children Act begins filming this month in London. Notes on a Scandal’s Richard Eyres directs. Have you read the book? What do you think of the casting?